It\nwas a rainy morning. Li Yun went to the post box to check if there were any\nletters as usual. There was a letter for Grandma and some advertising leaflets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018This is for you, Grandma.\u2019 she said as\nshe handed it to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Thanks,\u2019 Grandma answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandma opened it with a small knife\nand put on her glasses. While she was reading it, the light in her eyes faded,\nlike the dark clouds had covered the Sun, and it started to rain. That was the\nfirst time I saw Grandma cry. She stood up from her rattan chair and turned\naround to not let us see her cry. Obviously, we already had. I was so shocked.\nIn all these years, I had never seen Grandma cry. She was like a robot, spoke\nwithout emotions, except when she was angry. Although we couldn\u2019t see her\ncrying, her shoulders were shaking. Li Yun and I both stopped eating our\nbreakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Oh, My, God. Hey Yun, ask Grandma if\nwe can read the letter,\u2019 I murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li Yun took a deep breath, and\nstuttered, \u2018Uhhh\u2026 Can, can we read the letter, Grandma?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt the tension in the room\nright after she asked. We both knew we did something we should not. None of us\ndares to talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Can\u2019t you see the time now? Go to\nschool!\u2019 Grandma shouted, after about 30 seconds. My heart pounded. We both\ngrabbed our textbooks and pencil cases and bolted, like two frightened horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did try to ask Grandma what the\nletter was about after a few days. However, the result was the same. Our\ncuriosity was stopped by the anger of Grandma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still remember, during the evening\nof the day after, I was doing homework next to Li Yun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, she whispered frightenedly,\n\u2018It can\u2019t be. There\u2019s no way\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then\nshe hit her head lightly and kept doing her homework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018What couldn\u2019t be?\u2019 I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I was just daydreaming.\u2019 She answered\nand laughed nervously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can tell from Li Yun\u2019s eyes that it\nwas about the letter, and she probably had a guess at what the letter was about.\nSomehow, I didn\u2019t keep questioning her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About a week after, Li Yun and I both\nsaw Grandma tearing the letter into pieces and burnt them into ashes through\nthe window in our room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war ended a few years later. Li\nShin didn\u2019t return home. Initially, I thought he was still angry at Grandma.\nOne day he would come back. As I grew up, I knew he would never come back. But\nstill, I didn\u2019t believe in myself. I did not want to find the truth either. It\nwas too hard to face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Till today, Li Shin\u2019s face is still\nlingering in my memory. Grandma has passed away because of her old age. Before her\ndeath, she built Li Shin a gravestone and put it next to his father\u2019s. Li Yun\nand I would go there and \u2018visit\u2019 him every year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iwas a rainy morning. Li Yun went to the post box to check if there were anletters as usual. There was a letter for Grandma and some advertising leaflets.<\/p>
\u2018This is for you, Grandma.\u2019 she said ashe handed it to her.<\/p>
\u2018Thanks,\u2019 Grandma answered.<\/p>